audiobook Voices from the Peninsula: Eyewitness Accounts by Soldiers of Wellington's Army; 1808–1814 (The Napoleonic Library) by Ian Fletcher in History

Description

Created by ex-Polikarpov designers Ivanovic Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich; the MiG-1/3 family of fighters was built to satisfy a Soviet Air Force requirement for an advanced; fast; high altitude fighter. Entering service in the spring of 1941; the problematic MiG-1 had its handling problems rectified with the hasty production of the MiG-3 - the latter had its Mikulin engine moved further forward; increased outer wing dihedral and a strengthened fuselage. As of 22 June 1941; Air Force manoeuvre units in the five borderline military districts could field 917 MiG-3s. Many of these were destroyed on the ground when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Nevertheless; enough examples survived to allow pilots such as Stepan Suprun (Twice Hero of the Soviet Union); Aleksandr Pokryshkin (Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union) and Lev Shestakov (Hero of the Soviet Union) to claim a number of victories on the type. Early successes by units such as 23rd and 28th IAPs resulted in 35 aerial victories being claimed by MiG-3 pilots in the first eight days of the Great Patriotic War. Other units enjoyed similar levels of success; with MiG-3-equipped 15 and 31st IAP proving themselves to be the most combat-ready fighter units on the Northwestern Front. By the end of 1941; a handful of pilots had 'made ace' flying the MiG-3; despite the Soviet air forces having taken a fearful beating at the hands of the Luftwaffe. In 1942 MiG pilots actively participated in the defence of Leningrad; Moscow; Odessa; Kiev and Sevastopol; with still more aviators becoming aces as the year progressed. Amongst them was Aleksandr Pokryshkin; the second-highest scoring Russian ace with 59 victories to his name. He claimed his first five kills while flying a MiG-3 with 55th IAP. Stalin terminated MiG-3 production in October 1941; although the fighter remained in frontline service in large numbers until mid-1942. Surviving examples continued to serve with national air defence regiments until 1943.